Student winners celebrate 17th annual Design an Ad competition

The Veterans’ Memorial Center was buzzing with excitement at the 17th annual Design an Ad competition awards party held on Feb. 18.

The contest is a community project that called on nearly 1,000 students from nine different schools to put their creativity to work coming up with advertisements for various Davis businesses.

Forty-nine winners were chosen by local businesses after much deliberation.

“Choosing the winner was extremely difficult. We simply could not choose one particular winner,” said Alejandra Arias of Cooks Collision. Their employees loved the ads so much that they even hung them all up on their office wall.

The ceremony started with Nancy Hannell, advertising director for The Davis Enterprise, thanking teachers for weaving designing the ads into their everyday curriculum. She also praised the entries for their creativity.

“I’m in awe. We have so many talented children and they’re all phenomenal,” Hannell said.

Beaming children dispersed throughout the room, pointing fingers at their artistic creations and posing for photos.

North Davis Elementary student Lyna Jiang, 11, admitted she was surprised she was chosen as one of the winners, despite her tenacious efforts.

“At first, I didn’t really know what to draw. I drew a lot of rough drafts,” Lyna said. In the end, she decided to visit her chosen business, Hibbert Lumber, to find some inspiration.

“I saw this pickup truck in front of the building and that was how I got my idea,” she said.

There were pamphlets filled with the designs of past years’ winners available to look at, and healthy snacks and bottled water provided by the Davis Food Co-op and Cooks Collision.

Hannell then read off the names of each winner, who received an envelope including a copy of their ad and a signed certificate.

César Chávez student Ada Freese, 9, made her way through the crowd of applauding family, friends and fellow winners to accept her award.

“I felt proud and excited,” Ada said. She drew an ad for Ken’s Bike and Ski, incorporating drawings of snow-topped mountains and the store’s logo.

Her dad Erik enjoyed seeing the smile on her face and how excited she was to enter the contest.

“It’s kind of a big deal. It’s one of those things that is going to be stamped in time so she can look back and show her children and her children’s children,” Erik Freese said.

Davis Enterprise advertising assistant Zack Snow had been working on the Design an Ad project since November and believes all the time he put in was well worth it.

“I actually participated in this contest when I attended César Chávez and remember how fun it was for me, which is why I put so much effort to make it equally (or more) fun,” Snow said.

The 2014 Design an Ad program was printed as an insert in today’s edition of The Davis Enterprise. Copies also will be available at The Enterprise office, 315 G St.